


The Lance and Keith Playlist

by devoosha



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Keith is clueless, M/M, basically fluffy stuff cause i like fluff, cluelessness is necessary, coran and shiro are wingmen kinda, fluff and some angst, like painfully super clueless, like super clueless, music fic, pidge and hunk are the best, rated teen for f bombs, two chapters two POV's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 03:51:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13825890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devoosha/pseuds/devoosha
Summary: Five times Lance sings to Keith and he's clueless.  One time he's not.  Keith is extremely clueless in this and I try to explain it, but his cluelessness is necessary for the 5 + 1 format.  Set up for this story that is basically a two chapter one shot:  The first chapter is the whole story from Lance's point of view.  Then you get the entire story from Keith's.  There are a few scenes they share together that are repeated in each chapter, only with their own thoughts and feelings.  I wrote it this way because I wanted to explain what was going on in their minds and with their emotions - as well as what their friends were doing for each of them - but didn't want to try and weave it all together in one shot with alternating POV's.  Song list at the end of the fic.  This is another 'let's see how Keith and Lance get together' and I wanted to post it before season 5 came out!  Chapter two posted within the hour, I hope.  Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is from Lance's point of view.
> 
> Note: Set after Season 4, though nothing about that is mentioned. I have Allura back to piloting the Castleship, Keith returning to Red and Lance returning to Blue. That's my head canon anyway for the future...

**Chapter 1 - The Lance and Keith Playlist (Lance POV)**

 

“I caught him watching you again,” Pidge said, settling on Lance’s bed next to her friend as he was rolling yarn from a skein into a ball. 

“Oh?” he responded, trying not to sound interested.  “What was his excuse this time?”

“It was when you were cleaning up the dining room.  He was watching you sing from the door.  He told me he couldn’t find the kitchen.”

Lance snorted.  “How long have we been on this ship?”

“Long enough for Keith not to be lost anymore,” Pidge drawled.

Lance just hummed, his concentration seemingly on the yarn in his hands.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Pidge asked.

“Do about what?”

Pidge huffed in irritation.  “This thing between you and Keith!”

Lance just chuckled.  “You’re making it sound like there is a thing between us.”

“There is!” she insisted.

Lance just shook his head.  “You’re imagining things.  That big brain of yours is working overtime.”

“I’m telling you, Lance, he likes you.” 

“You’re delusional.”

They heard Lance’s door slide open.  “Hunk, tell Lance I’m not delusional.”

“Pidge isn’t delusional,” Hunk automatically responded cheerfully.  “What is she not delusional about this time?”

“She’s still on about this Keith thing,” Lance said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh that.  Yeah, she’s definitely not delusional about that.  You like him, he likes you.  You’re just both too dumb to do anything about it,” Hunk said, settling himself on the bed too.

“There is no proof that Keith likes me,” Lance said in an annoyed tone, finally risking a glare at both of his friends.

“Um, the fact that we keep catching him watching you when he thinks you can’t see him?  How flustered he gets trying to talk to you?  The eyes he gives you when we’re all together?” Pidge listed her ‘proofs’, ticking them off her fingers.

“None of that means anything.  Keith gets flustered talking to anyone,” Lance pointed out. 

“The boy does have a point,” Hunk conceded.

“He’s worse around Lance,” Pidge retorted.

“Not really sure why you’re confusing Keith’s disdain for me as being flustered, but whatever,” Lance said, tossing the finished ball of yarn into the basket across the room.  “Look, I know you want to believe this thing, Pidge.  Believe me, I wish it were true too, but it’s not.”

“Flirt with him a little and you’ll see,” Pidge suggested.

“And I told you why I don’t flirt with him,” Lance said darkly.

“Shiro!” Pidge exclaimed.

Both Lance and Hunk gave her the same blank look.

“Keith and Shiro are close.  Shiro might know how Keith feels!”

“I am NOT asking Shiro about Keith!” Lance cried.

“Ask me what about Keith?” Shiro asked as the door slid open.

“I seriously need to start locking my door!” Lance said, covering his face with his hands.  “I am NOT having this conversation!”

“Is this about the two of them liking each other and not acting on it?” Shiro asked, amused.

“Not you too, traitor!” Lance growled, looking at Shiro, who stood inside the room now, arms crossed as he looked at Lance with a grin.

“Told you so!  Shiro even knows!” Pidge gloated.

“Everyone knows.  I was just talking to Coran and Allura about it yesterday,” Shiro said.

“Oh Dios mio!” Lance groaned, hiding his face again.

“Did Keith say something to you Shiro?” Hunk asked.

“Well, no,” Shiro said slowly.  “Not directly.  He certainly talks enough about Lance, but he hasn’t actually SAID anything.  But it’s so obvious Lance.”

Lance just groaned again.

“You should be happy about this Lance.  Keith likes you back, isn’t that what you want?” Pidge asked.

“Well, yeah, of course I do.”

“There you go, buddy,” Hunk said.  “You need to tell him.  Just make your move!”

“Make my move?”

“Hunk’s right, Lance,” Shiro said, his tone a little more serious.  “Keith is too shy and unsure of himself to do anything about how he feels.  I’m sure you intimidate him.”

“Me intimidate Keith?” Lance’s tone was disbelieving.

“In this situation, yes.  You’re much more outgoing and confident than he is.  Keith’s pretty inexperienced in emotional things and is afraid of putting his heart out there.  You’ll definitely have to make the first move on this.”

“Flirt with him a little tonight.  We’re all planning on team bonding in the lounge later,” Hunk said.  When the Paladins weren’t busy fighting or on missions, they enjoyed the occasional down time in what they dubbed the Paladin lounge, a place to relax where they all brought things to entertain themselves.  It sometimes resulted in game night, a night of talking and laughing and reminiscing, or just being quiet and content with each other.

“That would be perfect!” Pidge said excitedly.

Shiro nodded, “A smile at him would go a long way.”

Lance crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at his knees, thinking.  His glance darted to the phone that lay next to him on the bed.  “I have an idea,” he declared.

 

* * *

  

Lance fiddled with his phone nervously as he sat between Pidge and Hunk in the common room lounge.  Keith sat opposite him on the other couch, between Shiro and Coran.  They usually broke off like this when they all relaxed together.  Lance jokingly said to Pidge and Hunk once that it was like the adults and the children – himself, Pidge, and Hunk supposedly the children.  Keith was serious enough to be considered an adult.

It was true that on their side of the room, the trio of ‘children’ usually engaged in something where the result was a lot of laughter.  Shiro usually sat quietly next to Allura, wooing her in his own non-showy way.  Coran would alternate back and forth, because he loved the boisterousness and fun to be had with Hunk, Pidge and Lance.  Lance, especially, was a favorite of Coran – the one person always guaranteed to make him laugh.

Tonight, however, Lance was mostly ignoring the chatter of Pidge and Hunk because he was staring at Keith, who was obliviously looking at papers in his hand.  Did Keith really like him?  He kept asking himself that question.  He hoped so.  He hoped that all of his friends were right.  Lance had no idea what he would do if he found out that Keith did not like him the way Lance wanted.  Romantically.  Pining after the Red Paladin hurt enough, but Lance knew that the knowledge of Keith NOT liking him back would hurt much worse.

His friends were right, however.  No matter what Keith felt, Lance needed to know.  It would hurt, but at least he could move on.  He closed his eyes briefly at the pain in his heart that thought caused.  He loved Keith.  He hated the thought that he might have to move on.

Lance felt Pidge nudge him and he opened his eyes to look at her.  As much as she could be a pain, Lance adored this girl that reminded him so much of one of his little sisters.  The same attitude and loving pushiness.  He knew in this situation, Pilar would be acting the same way as Pidge.  Pidge just flicked a glance at Keith and nodded.

It wasn’t the performing that Lance dreaded.  He loved being the center of attention.  It was Keith’s reaction he dreaded.  It should be pretty obvious what Lance was doing.

He turned his phone on, sending a mental thank you to Pidge and Hunk once again for figuring out how to power their phones with Altean tech.  He opened his music player and scrolled down to the song he had chosen.  The words were basically what he wanted to say, or rather sing, to Keith.  It was a sweet little uplifting song called “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz.  Taking a deep breath, Lance hit play.

At first Keith didn’t even react.  Lance wasn’t singing loud at first, but with Pidge’s laugh in his ears and Hunk’s encouraging smile next to him, he started to lift his volume.

He saw Keith look up at him, his expression confused, then he turned to say something to Shiro in a low voice.  Shiro looked away from Allura and shifted his gaze from Keith to Lance.  Lance heard Shiro chuckle during a pause in his singing before turning his attention back to Allura.  Shiro knew what Lance was doing.

Keith had returned his gaze to Lance, so Lance kept his eyes focused on Keith.  There should be no mistaking Lance’s intention.  He was literally singing a love song to Keith. 

Yet Keith looked down, back at his papers, halfway through the song.  Lance almost faltered, but thought he saw that Keith’s cheeks had reddened.  This was encouraging, so he upped his volume just a little.  Keith looked back up again, his eyes reflecting confusion.  Everyone was watching Lance now, and he tried a little bit of a theatric at the end, placing his hands over his heart as he sang the last two words, “I’m Yours”.

Everyone laughed and applauded the performance.  Except Keith, and Lance felt a little painful shaft pierce his heart.  He did stand up, pretending to acknowledge the accolades of an adoring audience by blowing kisses to them and tried not to let it show that Keith’s unsmiling and indifferent reaction to Lance’s grand gesture hurt him a lot.

 

* * *

  

Two quintants later, Lance was in the kitchen helping Hunk.  Hunk was the whiz when it came to preparing food that was not only tasty, but healthy.  Lance had a lot of experience at helping in the kitchen.  He often helped his Mamá back home. 

“I knew it was a stupid idea,” he was saying to his sympathetic friend.

“It wasn’t a stupid idea,” Hunk responded patiently as he stirred something in a pot on the Altean equivalent of a stove.

“Yes it was,” Lance insisted stubbornly.

“That song wasn’t THAT obvious, Lance.  I mean yeah, you kept saying “I’m Yours” to him, but remember, Keith doesn’t KNOW that you like him, and Shiro said he’s inexperienced with all of this.  Choose something more obvious next time,” Hunk suggested.

“Sing to him again?”

“Yeah.  I think it’s sweet.  He’ll get it eventually.”

Lance was chopping something up on a sort of cutting board.  What that something was, he wasn’t sure.  Hunk had found it in a market stall on the last planet they had stopped at for supplies.  He slid the board toward Hunk, who dumped the contents on it into the pot. 

“I just think you should pick a different song.  Something where your intention is plainly clear,” Hunk continued, stirring the pot once again. 

“I don’t know,” Lance said.

“It’s either that or go to him right now – I think he’s on the training deck – and declare your love for him point blank to his face.  He definitely should get the clue then.  Actually, I think that’s the best thing you could do.  Then there’s no confusion.”

Lance snorted, “Yeah that’s not happening.”

“Alright then.  Pick another song.”

 

* * *

 

The following night found all of the Paladins and Alteans back in the common area.  Lance and Hunk were on either side of Pidge and she was showing them a program she was writing that would upgrade her Green Lion’s defensive shields.  She hoped that it would have a successful testing so that she could upgrade the rest of the lions.  Keith sat across from him again, lovingly polishing his Galra knife and patiently working out any nicks in it with a whetstone. 

“Do it,” Pidge hissed in a quiet voice to him.  He had played the song he had chosen for them, and both agreed that Keith could in no way mistake Lance’s intention.

Lance sighed, opening up his phone and finding the song.  He took a deep breath and hit play.  It was a favorite older song of his, the words should be pretty clear and the music was upbeat and catchy.  Keith immediately looked up and Lance caught his eye.  Keith looked confused again, and his eyes narrowed a little.  Lance heard Pidge actually giggling next to him.  That and the beat caused a big smile to break out on his face as he stared at Keith.

 _I want you to want me_  
_I need you to need me_  
_I’d love you to love me_  
_I’m begging you to beg me_

It should have been obvious from the lyrics of this Cheap Trick song, even with the fun dance beat, what Lance felt.  Lance was quite modest as to his singing talent.  And while it was a playful song, he put as much longing and need into his voice as he could, which became more pronounced when Keith looked back down at his knife.  

 _‘What do I have to do?’_ Lance thought, even as he sang, feeling foolish for the first time.  He could feel the eyes of his friends on him as they looked between him and Keith, and he even heard Allura cry out, “Oh I like this one!”  He even went so far as to dance to the song, jumping on top of the couch to air guitar during the riffs.  He knew he probably looked like an idiot, but everyone else seemed to enjoy his performance, even Pidge and Hunk, who scrambled aside from him along their couch so he wouldn’t step on them.

For the last of the lyrics, he jumped off the couch and dropped to his knees on the floor in front of Keith and sang into an imaginary mic.  He finished with another air guitar rift and flung out his arms.  Pidge, still laughing, shut off the phone as everyone started cheering.  Lance panted, trying to catch his breath, and gave Keith his best smirk.

All his effort was rewarded with Keith staring back at him with wide eyes before slightly shaking his head and turning his attention back to his blade.  Lance waited a few moments before jumping back to his feet.  He bowed and acknowledged the applause and had to agree when he heard Pidge mutter “Clueless…”

 

* * *

  

They had entered a quadrant of the galaxy where the Galra had enslaved a planet of sentient beings who were at the threshold of developing a civilization when the Galra had arrived and taken over the planet.  Voltron was able to free the planet and drive the Galra away.  The credit for the plan went fully to Keith, who had figured out how to draw the Galra out and had formulated the plan to free the beings on the planet while getting them to safety.  Keith looked uncomfortable with the praise from his team, especially when Lance complimented him, which confused Lance.  How could praising him be wrong?  Everything he did in regards to Keith was wrong.

Yet Keith was again caught by Hunk, watching Lance prep food in the kitchen, at the door peering in at the Blue Paladin as he sang along to some Spanish music on his player.  Keith invariably sat next to Lance at meals, as he always did.  He almost always stood next to Lance when they were all together.  Even Lance, by now, had to grudgingly agree with his friends that yes, it did appear that Keith might like him.  Then why didn’t he respond to the singing?

The next time they were all in the common room, Lance called up a sappy country song – “Shameless” by Garth Brooks.  He wasn’t exactly a country fan, but he remembered his cousin sang this to his girlfriend at a karaoke thing during a school dance and everyone there had loved it.  Lance thought it cheesy, but maybe cheesy would work with Keith. 

“He is from Texas originally,” Pidge reasoned, as she and Hunk were in Lance’s room to approve of the song choice.  “I think he has to like country music by law or something.  It has to work.”

It didn’t.

Lance threw his phone on his bed, after they had left the common area, and flopped back onto it, dramatically as always for him.  Pidge and Hunk stood there watching him.

“We underestimated Keith’s denseness,” Pidge said.

“Three very obvious love songs sung directly at him?  Crap if someone did that for me, I’d love it.  I’d at least REACT,” Hunk said, shaking his head and looking as angry as a cuddly teddy bear could look. 

“Let’s face the facts, guys,” Lance said, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.  “He’s NOT interested.”

“That’s the POINT,” Pidge stressed.  “He IS interested in you.  I KNOW he is.”

“Should we say something to him?” Hunk asked.

“No!” both Lance and Pidge cried.

“No,” Lance repeated in a more level tone.  “If he’s not interested, then,” he shrugged, “it would make things weird, I think.”

“It’s already weird,” Pidge muttered.  “I can’t imagine what Allura and Coran think.”

“Probably that human mating rituals are unnecessarily complex and ridiculous,” Hunk offered.

“Geez, thanks Hunk,” Lance said drily.

“Just saying, buddy.  You’re the one making this complicated.  I’ve been saying from the start to just TELL Keith how you feel.”

“The one thing I CAN’T do!”

 

* * *

  

Lance tried one more time, though his heart wasn’t very into it.  The song was sort of vague as to his feelings, but he thought that it described how he felt about looking into Keith’s eyes.  Keith was reading some book when Lance started singing “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel.  Keith looked up from the pages and held Lance’s gaze and Lance sang with as much passion and love as he could, never taking his eyes from Keith’s. 

 _In your eyes_  
_The light the heat_  
_In your eyes_  
_I am complete_

His heart broke when Keith looked down, back at his book.  Lance thought he looked upset because Keith kept blinking his eyes.  The applause he got from the others was more subdued than it had been before, but the dismissiveness from Keith was the same.  Lance felt humiliated as he settled back into his spot on the couch and grabbed his tablet to pretend he was playing something on it.  He made a point not to look at the others.  He didn’t want to see their pitying looks.

 

* * *

  

“What song are you going to try next?” Pidge asked, a little hesitantly.  She rarely saw the expression that Lance wore, a defeated and depressed expression that looked out of place on him.

“I’m not,” he stated simply.

She handed him back his wrist communicator which she had taken to upgrade.  “Why not?”

“It’s pointless, Pidge.  I’m just embarrassing myself.  All of you feel sorry for me, and I hate it.”  He strapped the comm unit onto his wrist.

“I just don’t understand,” she admitted, pushing a button on his communicator to test it.  The hologram appeared and she grunted in satisfaction before closing it.  “Everyone can see he’s into you.  You’re making it painfully obvious you’re interested in him.  This just doesn’t make sense.”

“All of you are wrong.  I’m wrong.  He’s not into me.  It’s ok.  I mean, yeah, I wish he was, but if he’s not,” he shrugged, “he’s not.  There’s nothing I can do to MAKE him like me.  It’s really ok,” Lance said, but his tone was so subdued that it made Pidge wince.

 

* * *

  

Lance avoided Keith after that.  He just couldn’t face the other Paladin.  He imagined that Keith must think him crazy.  The Alteans and Shiro were busy working on an agreement with two planets in the Blanton system, so the Paladins had a few quintants of down time.  Lance spent most of that in his room, coming out only to sneak into the kitchen for something to eat as he didn’t show up for the normal mealtimes.  He ignored Pidge and Hunk when they admonished him for his behavior.  Lance even took to training in the middle of the night to avoid Keith on the training deck.

Allura insisted he be present for a briefing about the planets they were orbiting, but he knew that whenever they had meetings, Keith would usually sit next to him.  He deliberately arrived late and sat far away from Keith.  Lance was so nervous that he barely said anything during it and concentrated strictly on Allura and Coran, not looking at Keith at all.  He asked a few questions and escaped at the first chance.

Later that day he couldn’t ignore the rumbling in his stomach.  He looked at the Altean clock next to his bed and knew that lunch should have ended about a varga ago and he knew Pidge was on cleanup duty, so the chances he would run into Keith was low.  His door slid open and he poked his head out, relieved that the corridor was empty.  He stepped out and walked down the hallway only to see Keith come around the corner.  Lance felt trapped and almost turned to run back to his room. 

“Excuse me,” he managed, trying to edge his way around Keith, who seemed to somehow block the whole corridor.

“Where are you going?” Keith asked.

“Not that it’s your business, but I’m going to the kitchen for something to eat,” Lance snapped at him, annoyed that he had to talk to Keith at all.  Lance’s eyes automatically looked at the floor, not able to meet Keith’s.

“Well, why weren’t you at lunch?  If you’re hungry, you should have come down for that!”

Lance thought that Keith sounded angry and he couldn’t figure out why the red Paladin would be.  Why should Keith be angry at him?  Lance was the one hurting.  Lance wasn’t angry that Keith didn’t like him back.  Lance was mature enough to know that he couldn’t force Keith to feel anything for him, and if Keith didn’t like him, he didn’t like him.  Keith wasn’t to blame, but Lance still could be hurt about it.  So he didn’t respond and pushed past Keith, wincing as his shoulder brushed the other’s.

“Hey!” Keith exclaimed.

“What do you care?” Lance hissed in panic as he hurried around the corner, ignoring the shout of his name.  He gripped his shoulder with one hand as the other wiped at his wet cheeks.

 

* * *

  

“Grr,” Lance grunted out as he once again lost a life on the game system he had bought with Pidge.  He reset the game, glancing at the clock next to his bed.  He snorted, knowing it was time for him to be in the common room, but he wasn’t about to budge.  Pidge and Hunk had already stopped by and tried to persuade him to go, but he ignored them and stayed on his bed, back against the wall as he pretended to be really into the game.  Nothing his two closest friends said moved him, though.  He adamantly refused to leave his room, stating that he didn’t have the energy to smile and play nice.

Pidge and Hunk reluctantly left him, much to his relief, but it wasn’t long before there was a sharp knock at his door.  He didn’t respond at first, but the knock came again followed by Shiro’s stern voice saying, “Come on, Lance.  Open the door.”

Lance sighed.  “It’s open,” he called.

Shiro stepped into his room and waited until the door shut, then looked at the blue Paladin, who didn’t bother getting up and stared at the screen as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.  “Why are you not with the rest of the team?”

“I’m not in the mood for it tonight,” Lance answered, not meeting Shiro’s eyes.

“Put the controller down, Lance.”

Lance entertained the thought of ignoring his leader, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.  With an irritated noise, he threw the controller down, folded his arms, and stared down at his knees.

Shiro waited patiently, which made Lance nervous.  “I’m not leaving this room,” Lance said rebelliously.

“I know you don’t want to, Lance, but you can’t let this affect the team.”

Lance closed his eyes.  How did Shiro know exactly what to say that hit him where it hurt the most?  “Shiro,” he said in a small voice, “please don’t make me.  I just can’t.”

“Lance, you can’t hide from him forever,” Shiro reasoned.  “You should just be honest with him.  You should have been from the start.  I told you Keith doesn’t know that you like him.  I know that Keith is confused about what you’re doing.  He doesn’t understand what’s going on.”

“How can he not?” Lance demanded angrily.

Shiro lifted both hands helplessly.  “I love him like a brother, but the boy is clueless when it comes to things like this.  Lance, he’s never had friends.  He’s never been with anyone.  Keith is very literal, so you need to be straightforward with him.”

Lance frowned as he thought it over.  “No.  I thought maybe all of you were right.  I thought maybe he did like me as more than a friend.  Maybe I should have just said something to him, but now I’m glad I didn’t.  I was wrong.  All of us were wrong.  I’ve gone and made a fool of myself.  I tried and failed.  It’s not so much facing him.  I can’t stand seeing all of you look at me with those sorry expressions.”

Shiro sighed.  “I understand, Lance.  I do.  None of us think badly of you.  We all thought it was sweet what you tried to do.  We feel bad because we love you and hoped it would work out.  We all hoped for something too.  All of us.  Unfortunately, none of us can force Keith’s feelings…”

Lance interrupted, “I know that!  I’m not angry that he doesn’t like me!  If he doesn’t, he doesn’t.  It hurts, yeah, but it’s not his fault.  I’m disappointed and angry at myself for letting it get like this.”

“Angry, embarrassed, or hurt, you’re coming to the common room,” Shiro said firmly.  “If I have to drag you there, I will.  We are a team, and like it or not, you will still have to work with Keith.  You need to get your emotions under control and just face him.  Face us.”

Lance knew that Shiro would follow through on his threat.  For the first time he was angry at the leader of Voltron, even though he knew at the back of his mind that Shiro was right and that all the Black Paladin was doing was keeping the team together.  Lance, however, didn’t have to like it.  His expression darkened as he slid off his bed and followed Shiro from the room.

 

* * *

 

 

He made no eye contact with anyone when he entered the common area.  He only stomped over to the couches and fell onto the seat next to Pidge.  Lance had brought his tablet and called up a mindless game and kept his concentration on that, scowling down at the device and ignoring everyone in the room.

The mood in the room was subdued.  Keith was cluelessly sketching something in a sketchbook.  The Red Paladin would occasionally spend time drawing.  He was quite good.  Lance had seen some of his sketches, even the ones Keith had done of the rest of the team. 

Lance watched him, though his head was down and it appeared that he was very into the game he was playing on his tablet.  His eyes were lifted up enough to watch Keith.  Lance kept ignoring the nudges in his side from Pidge.  “Sing!” she hissed at him.

“Stop it,” he snapped back, thoroughly annoyed as he glared at her. 

“Come on Lance,” she whispered again, scowling back.

His expression soured again, a look he had never before leveled at Pidge.  Lance could tell he sort of frightened her from her widened eyes.  “Fine.  If you want me to sing, I’ll sing.  I’ll fuck this up even more!” he hissed at her.

Lance shoved his hand in his pocket and yanked out his phone.  He was poking at the screen with rough finger jabs as he heard her say a little louder, “Don’t do this angry, you’re not thinking clearly.”

“You wanted it,” Lance grated out, pressing play on a song.

Everyone looked up as the first notes played, except Keith, who kept his eyes on his sketchbook.   

_Say something, I’m giving up on you_

Lance heard Pidge’s gasp next to him.

 _I’ll be the one, if you want me to_  
_Anywhere, I would’ve followed you_  
_Say something, I’m giving up on you_

His eyes shifted to Allura as she raised her hands to cover her mouth.  As he continued to sing, he could see Shiro and Coran were upset, and he saw Hunk look down at his hands out of the corner of his eye.

 _Oh, oh, oh, oh say something, I’m giving up on you_  
_Say something, I’m giving up on you_  
_Say something…._

The music trailed off and Lance hit stop on his player.  For the past four performances the others would cheer for him, excited at what they hoped was the possibility of seeing this relationship form in front of them.  No one cheered now and Lance refrained from taking a bow.  The silence finally got through to Keith, who looked up directly into Lance’s eyes.

The Red Paladin’s expression was…startled...and his mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as he stared back at Lance.  Lance didn’t know what to think and couldn’t fathom what Keith was thinking _.  ‘Say something, you idiot, say something!’_ Lance screamed in his mind.

Keith didn’t.  He just stared.

“That was quite sad, Lance, but you sang it so lovely,” Allura said, distracting him.  He forced a smile on his lips as he turned his head to look at her.

“I’m glad YOU approve, my dearest Princess.”

No one said anything for a few minutes, until Lance faked a yawn, “Training beat me up today, I’m heading to bed early,” he said as he got to his feet to head to the door, tossing a lazy good night over his shoulder even as he expected Shiro to stop him.  Their leader didn’t, just watched him leave with a slight frown.  Lance tried to act casual, but he hurried before the tears actually started staining his cheeks.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well you can’t stay in here all day,” Pidge reasoned with Lance.  He was face down on his bed, trying to smother himself with his pillow.  Pidge was trying to get him up with Hunk’s help.  She was impeding Hunk, however, by the mere fact that she was sitting on top of Lance.

“Get off me,” he mumbled into the fabric he was trying to suffocate himself with.

“Only if you promise to get up.  And if you don’t promise, I’m just going to have Hunk literally pick you up and throw you out.”

“Leave me to my misery,” Lance begged.

“No,” she said stubbornly. 

“Pidge is right, buddy.  We’re not leaving you in here to mope any more.   You’ve done enough of it.”

“I deserve a few days of moping.  Maybe a year or so, ok?  I made a complete fool of myself in front of everyone.”

“First of all,” Pidge said, “you are always making a fool of yourself, so why should this be any different?”

Hunk laughed while Lance made a sound between a protest and a grunt.

“Second of all, no one thinks you were making a fool of yourself.  We ALL know why you were doing what you did.  We ALL thought it was incredibly sweet.  And if your boyfriend weren’t such a dense and inexperienced idiot, we wouldn’t even be here having this discussion.  You’d probably be skipping around the castle looking for places to make out.”

Lance launched himself up, throwing Pidge to the foot of the bed, where Hunk held out a hand to catch her before she hit her head.  Lance twisted and glared at the both of them.  “My boyfriend?!” he cried.  “Fuck Pidge, he’s not!  That’s the fucking point!  He’s not and he won’t be!”

“There, you moron, that’s the first emotion I’ve seen in you since yesterday.  And at least you’re up!” she retorted, non-plussed that she had almost cracked her head open against the wall.

“And he’s not your boyfriend, YET,” Hunk stressed, putting up his forefinger.

“Or ever!” Lance snapped, then the realization of what he said hit him and, still seated on his bed, he hugged his arms over his stomach and bent over with a cry.

He was immediately engulfed in two pairs of arms and two voices were murmuring comforting things into his ears.  Things he didn’t even hear or comprehend over his sobbing.

 

* * *

 

 

The next few quintants were subdued.  Lance tried to act as normal as possible, and he did a passingly decent job.  The Paladins were kept busy, working on their assigned missions on Thrakor and Illuma.  All of them had training, diplomatic duties, and restocking runs.  Lance volunteered to help Hunk and Coran with the restocking duties, which allowed him to be off the ship and away from Keith. 

He had thought a lot over the past few quintants.  It still hurt, but he kept telling himself he had to accept the fact that Keith did not like him back.  Oh Lance was sure that Keith liked him, but only as a friend.  At least Lance had tried, right?  Well no, not really.  He supposed he could SAY something to Keith.  To expect Keith to bear the burden of being the first to confess was expecting a lot, especially as Lance was the outgoing one and Keith was the brooding loner who was probably afraid of rejection.

Yet Lance had been obvious – painfully obvious – in how he felt.  He literally sang that he loved Keith.  How can anyone misinterpret that?

Pidge and Hunk had both assured him that it was easy.  Though Keith didn’t talk much about his past with any of the other Paladins or the Alteans, it was well known that he was an orphan, whose parents were not in the picture and he had moved from home to home and had no consistency in his life.  The Garrison had even expelled him.  Lance realized, as he and Hunk flew their lions back from the surface of Illuma, Coran tagging along in Blue with him, that Keith probably never expected anyone to love him. 

Thinking about it that way gave Lance a fairly new perspective on Keith’s character.  “What do you know about Keith?” Lance asked Coran, before he could think.

Coran looked at Lance with some surprise.  “Not much, really, Lance,” Coran said kindly.  “I know he’s very sensitive and lonely.  I think that’s why he volunteers for Blade missions.  To be alone.  But on the other hand, he wishes he weren’t that way.”

“What do you mean?”

Coran thought over what he wanted to say, his hand lifted almost automatically to twirl his fingers in his mustache.  “I don’t know how much Keith has ever told any of you, but he has confided in me a little.  I think he fears that he’ll be alone forever.  This is ridiculous for him to feel, of course, he always has this team.”  Lance nodded slowly.  “And I believe all of you feel as if he were a friend.  Or more,” he added with a sly glance at Lance that made the Blue Paladin blush, grateful for the helmet that hid his cheeks.

“We do,” Lance replied faintly.

“Being abandoned by your mother at such a young age and having no real information about her.  Father walking out.  Being kicked out of home after home after home.  The expulsion from the Garrison.  No wonder he feels unloved.”  Lance knew he shouldn't have been surprised that others would have come to the same conclusions about Keith, but he was.

“He shouldn’t feel that way!” Lance exploded.  “He should know we all love him.  He should know that I love him!”

Coran turned his head fully to look at Lance.  “Have you ever told him?  I mean, other than in song form?”

“Well, no.”

“Then how would he know, Lance?” Coran asked gently.  “I know you all joke that Keith is dense, but I think it’s just more that he misses social cues.  He hasn’t really ever had friends, according to Shiro, so I think he just doesn’t know how to read people.  He comes across as a sullen young man, but he’s really not.”

Lance nodded, feeling guilty.  He should have been up front with Keith from the beginning.  Maybe it was too much for Lance to hope that Keith would understand what he was doing.  Heck, he remembered trying to flirt with Keith at the Garrison, but Keith had just looked at him blankly.  Lance took that as rejection so long ago, so he never tried to flirt with Keith again.  If Keith had had no friends and tended to be a loner, he probably didn’t even have a clue when someone was flirting with him. 

“I don’t know what to do, Coran,” Lance admitted in a small voice, even as he maneuvered Blue into her own hangar.  “Everyone says that Keith likes me as more than a friend, but I just don’t see it.  What is everyone seeing?  I don’t want to say anything to him if he’s not interested.”

“You humans have an interesting way of courting.  We Alteans are much more direct.  I think humans are so afraid of being hurt that you miss out on a lot of amazing experiences.  Keith shows his love for you,” and Lance whimpered a bit at the l-word, “in many subtle ways.  Doesn’t he stand or sit next to you all of the time?  Doesn’t he come to you for advice?  Doesn’t he want to partner with you on tasks and missions?  Aren’t you always catching him looking at you?  I know the others have found him watching you when you don’t see it.  I see it all the time on the monitors.”

“You never told me that,” Lance said almost accusingly.

“No I didn’t, because I didn’t want to interfere.  Things like this can’t be forced, especially since I didn’t know until recently how you felt.”

“I must be better at hiding it.  I fell for him at the Garrison.”

Coran hummed to himself.  “That’s quite a long time to suffer in silence, Blue Paladin.  And a lot of time wasted in misunderstanding.  Make this right, Lance.  You’ll know how.”  Coran stood as Blue settled on the floor of the hangar.  He put his hand on Lance’s shoulder.  “I hope it works out, my boy.  I care so much about the both of you, and I want to see you both happy.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance felt like he was stuck in a repeat nightmare.  There they all were, in the lounge again, waiting uncomfortably.  Keith hadn’t shown yet and Lance very much doubted that he would.  Wait, why would he think that?  Keith was apparently clueless about what was going on.  If anything, Lance should be the one hiding away in his room, tucked under the covers.  He knew if he tried that, however, Shiro would just come and force him out again.  Come to think of it, he sent a slight glare Shiro’s way as he wondered why the Black Paladin wasn’t going out to fetch Keith.

The atmosphere in the lounge was tense, and Lance knew it was because everyone there pitied him, which made him want to scream.  He didn’t like being pitied.  He had tried and failed, but Coran’s words echoed in his head _.  “Make this right.”_   How?  How could he make this right?

The door slid open and Keith stepped in.  Lance heard the greetings from the group and he risked a glance up from his tablet, where he was playing a game that resembled Tetris.  Keith looked terrified and Lance wondered about that.  Why would he look like that?  The Red Paladin practically tripped as he stumbled to the opposite couch and sank into it between Coran and Shiro.  Lance smiled a small smile at him, then immediately looked back at the device in his hands.

There wasn’t much banter this evening.  The silly chatter and boisterousness was usually instigated by Lance, but he kept his eyes on the game in his hands.  Pidge and Hunk were also a little subdued, no doubt influenced by Lance’s mood.  Lance risked one glance at Keith, who was now leaning against Coran as they read from the tablet in the Altean’s hands. 

Shiro was the one to break the silence.  “If we’re going down to meet the King and Queen tomorrow, Princess, we should probably get some sleep.”

“What’s this?” Hunk asked.

Coran was the one that answered, as he shut down the device he held.  Keith sat up straighter and looked at the older man.  “We’ve got alliance treaties to discuss and sign.  Shiro and Allura will go downside tomorrow morning and I need to be available for launch.”  He yawned.  “Not as young as I was ten thousand years ago!” he quipped, getting a laugh from everyone as he bounded up from the couch.  “Goodnight, my Paladins!”

Shiro and Allura both said their goodnights and they all left the lounge, leaving Keith all alone on his couch.  Before he turned his eyes back to his game, Lance noticed that Keith had nothing in his hands, therefore nothing to do, and the Red Paladin looked quite irritated and anxious.  He was frowning and staring at his knees with his arms crossed over his chest.  In short, he looked like he usually did.

It grew quiet again, except for the tapping of Pidge’s fingers on her keyboard next to him.  Hunk was humming an unidentifiable tune as he scrolled through his own tablet.  Lance debated in his head if he should just leave or not.  Part of him wanted to say something to Keith, but part of him wanted to just forget him.

That’s when he heard it, the frustrated groan across the room.  Lance, as well as Pidge and Hunk, looked up with surprise at Keith, who realized what he had done.  He looked flustered and he blushed a bright shade of red and it seemed as if he wanted to throw himself out of the airlock.

Without thinking, Lance asked, “You ok, Keith?”

“Why aren’t you singing a song tonight?” Keith said in a forceful way, then looked as if he regretted saying anything.

Lance couldn’t reply at first.  His heart had started beating hard in his chest and his breathing felt restricted.  Keith wanted him to sing?  Did Keith enjoy his songs?  Was Keith as oblivious as Lance thought?  He looked at Keith, who he could tell was trying not to squirm under his gaze.  He couldn’t help but say the truth, and he couldn’t hide the sadness in his voice.  “I didn’t think there was a point to it anymore.”

Keith looked even more flustered at that.  He looked as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t quite know what to say or how to say it. 

Lance was about to just get up and leave – he was mentally and emotionally tired -  when Hunk said suddenly, “I think you’ve got one more in you, buddy.”

Lance turned his head to look at his best friend, who he saw was staring at Keith. “You do, huh?”

“Sure why not?”

“Yeah, sing another Lance,” Pidge added.

He didn’t really want to.  If anything was going to advance with Keith, it would have to be with honesty and being straight-forward with him.  Lance just didn’t know how to do that, where to start, or even if he had the emotional strength at the moment to deal with the inevitable rejection.  One glance at Keith, however, gave him a little bit of hope.  Keith actually looked eager and he smiled at Lance.

The smile decided him.  Maybe, just maybe.  He let his glance stay on Keith for a few moments, then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and unlocked it.  He scrolled through the songs in his playlist, thinking about each one until he got to a particular one.  This did say it all and, he thought with a hidden smirk, it would be a direct challenge to Keith – a person who hated backing down from a challenge. 

He pressed play.

 _I feel it in my fingers_  
_I feel it in my toes_  
_The love that’s all around me_  
_And so the feeling grows_

He could see from Keith’s narrowed eyes that he wasn’t familiar with the song.  Lance, however, had always loved this song, and sang it with a passion direct from his heart without taking his eyes from Keith.  Instead of looking away as he had been every other time, Keith met Lance’s eyes, the violet ones widening as he listened to the lyrics.

 _It’s written on the wind_  
_It’s everywhere I go_  
_So if you really love me_  
_Come on and let it show_

 _You know I love you, I always will_  
_My mind’s made up by the way that I feel_  
_There’s no beginning, there’ll be no end_  
_Cause on my love you can depend_

Lance was grateful he knew the song so well, as his mind was swirling with thoughts and emotions.  Keith looked entranced, but why hadn’t Keith shown this earlier?  _‘Don’t blame Keith,’_ Lance berated himself.  _‘Why not?’_ his mind whispered silently.  His silent debate, even as he sang, over whether or not he should be singing, whether or not Keith liked him, whether or not it was worth even trying anymore made his eyes narrow into an angry expression. 

Lance was barely aware that he was on his feet.  When had that happened?  He stood in the middle, glaring down at Keith now, his hands clenched.  He had left his phone on the couch, and Pidge picked it up.  Keith’s eyes widened even more as if intimidated. 

 _It’s written in the wind_  
_Oh everywhere I go_  
_So if you really love me, love me, love me_  
_Come on and let it show_  
_Come on and let it show_  
_Come on and let it show, baby_

Lance became even more forceful with his voice as he kept repeating the last lines, which repeated in the recorded song a dozen times.  He saw the flicker in Keith’s eyes at the somewhat direct challenge and the next thing Lance knew Keith stood up and faced him.  Lance was never more grateful for his taller height.  He knew he was egging Keith on and he hoped it would get Keith to SAY something.

_Come on and let it show._

Keith was actually glaring back at him now and it was all Lance could do to not laugh.  At least he had gotten a reaction from Keith, and now the other Paladin was standing close.  If Keith didn’t say anything, Lance decided he would.  He was tired of hiding this, and he agreed now with everyone else, he just needed to be honest with Keith.  He sang, almost mockingly.

_Come on and let it show baby._

What?  Keith’s hands had reached up and grasped the sides of his head, firmly, but gently too.  Lance almost cried at the touch – it felt so good.  He heard Pidge’s gasped “Oh!” and Hunks exuberant “Yes!”, but he stayed with the song, only whispering the line this time.

_Come on and let it show._

And Keith did.  Lance felt the pull, saw Keith’s eyes close and saw him tilt his head up to press his lips against Lance’s.  It wasn’t a great kiss.  It was as if Keith had never kissed before, which Lance guessed was probably the truth.  The thought made Lance smile, even as Keith tried to kiss him.  _‘It’s just something we’ll have to work on,’_ he thought as he lifted his hands to Keith’s waist, gripping him tightly.  He heard Pidge shut his phone off as he took control over the kiss.  He wasn’t very experienced, but this wasn’t his first kiss and he kissed Keith back, tilting his head slightly and concentrated on giving Keith the sweetest and most sensuous kiss he could.    

In spite of Keith’s inexperience, the kiss was everything Lance had dreamed it would be, quite possibly even better.  He loved that Keith’s kiss was uncertain and awkward.  To know that he might just be Keith’s first everything, as Keith would be his almost-first (except kisses) everything, was a turn on he didn’t expect. 

They were both unaware that sometime during that first kiss, Pidge and Hunk slipped out of the room to give them their privacy.  Lance only noticed it when they finally pulled apart to breathe.  “Looks like we chased them off,” he said.

Lance watched Keith’s face, even as he still held him tightly about the waist.  Keith looked a little disconcerted, glancing down at the way their chests were pressed together.  Lance was hyper-aware of every point of contact with Keith’s body.  Keith’s eyes met his again and Lance was amused as he could see the pink color starting to stain Keith’s cheeks.

“You’re cute when you blush.”

Keith flushed even darker.

Lance tilted his head forward, slightly, bumping their foreheads.  “What took you so long, mi amor?”

Keith took a deep breath and answered softly, “I didn’t think someone like you would ever like someone like me.”

Lance was confused.  Did Keith not realize how amazing he was?  “But why?”

“You’re…you’re always so happy, so outgoing, so friendly.”  Lance felt himself start to blush at the praise.  He didn’t always feel happy and his outgoing personality was a coverup for his insecurities.  “I’m not any of those things.  Why would you even like me?” Keith asked.

Lance thought he understood where Keith was coming from.  On the surface, the two seemed to be complete opposites, but as he got to know Keith, Lance began to realize that they had a lot more in common than most would realize.  If Keith saw him only as Lance let himself be seen, he could understand why Keith would question it.

“Because I see who you are Keith.  I see all the good and bad in you.  I see all of the wonderful things and your faults.  I see how much you care…about the team, about the people we’re saving.  I see you try to hide the good person you are, but it shines through whether you like it or not.  I love how smart and brave you are.  Doesn’t hurt that you’re the most gorgeous person I’ve ever set my eyes on,” he added, smirking at the way Keith smiled.  “I love you for every little thing about you.”

“You love me?” Keith asked wistfully.

“Te amo, cariño.  I love you very much.”

Keith sighed and he closed his eyes.  Lance smiled - he had never been able to say that to anyone, not in a lover-like way.  “I love you, Lance,” Keith told him softly, opening his eyes again.

Lance had never felt like this.  A warmth spread through him that soothed every heartache he had suffered over the past phoeb – the past few deca-phoebs - that he’d been pining for Keith.  Keith’s eyes were so dark and full of love that Lance’s breath caught.  Lance was so overwhelmed, he dealt with it the only way he could – teasing his new boyfriend.

“Just next time, if I sing a love song, know that it’s for you.”

Lance thrilled as Keith laughed, then hugged him tightly and hid his face in Lance’s shoulder.  “Next time, just tell me,” Keith said in a muffled and amused voice.

“Count on it, cariño!”

 


	2. The Lance and Keith Playlist (Keith's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same story - Keith's POV.

**Chapter 2 - The Lance and Keith Playlist (Keith's POV)**

 

“This is new,” Keith remarked quietly to Shiro, who sat next to him on one of the couches in the Paladin lounge.  His comment drew Shiro’s attention away from Princess Allura, seated on his other side.  Keith had been trying to decipher a document written in the Altean language, which he was trying to learn.  As usual during their rare leisure times, Lance, Hunk and Pidge sat on the couch opposite him engaged in something that resulted in a lot of laughing.  These leisure times were a way for all of them to relax with each other, and they all found their own ways to unwind, whether it was after a battle or after a long day of training.

“Huh?” Shiro grunted, turning his head to Keith.

Keith nodded his head toward the trio opposite them.  Lance had his phone out, a phone that did nothing by way of communication, but which contained Lance’s music – a collection of his favorite Earth music.  He, Pidge and Hunk all had their phones on them when they left Earth.  Shiro had been gone from Earth for a long time, and Keith didn’t take his when he went to hide out in the desert, so they didn’t have their own.  Pidge and Hunk found some way to power them in order for the three to access their own music playlists and the pictures they had saved on the phone.  Shiro and Keith envied them for having that connection to Earth.

Lance was the one that made the most use of his phone, for the music.  He did take a few pictures with it, but was worried about it running out of storage, so he was sparing with taking them.  He did have a selfie with every Voltron member, as well as Allura and Coran, but few other new ones.  Keith knew, having seen Lance once swiping through his phone when he thought he was alone, how important the pictures already saved on the phone were.  As tears were trickling down Lance’s cheeks, Keith knew they were pictures of his family.

Lance loved music, and Keith was impressed at his range of taste.  He thought Lance would be a boring pop music fan, but he had music on his phone from all genres and all different time periods – mostly rock, but he even had some classic and, not surprisingly, Cuban music.  While Lance was usually courteous when playing his music - nothing too loud when around the other Paladins - Keith knew when Lance was alone, he would play it at top volume, then sing and dance to whatever caught his fancy.  Keith had often watched Lance without him knowing.

Lance was playing a song and singing along to it, which Keith knew he liked to do, he just usually didn’t do it when they were all together in the lounge.  Lance had a pleasant enough voice, not the best voice in the galaxy.  Keith wasn’t infatuated enough to make that claim, but pleasant enough to the ears with a decent vocal range.  Lance could pull off a falsetto when he wanted, but his normal singing voice was a mid-tenor.

Keith thought he recognized the song.  Almost.  It had been out for a while before they left Earth and he racked his brain, listening intently.  Jason Mraz.  He thought that was the name of the singer. 

He heard Shiro chuckle a little, then turn his attention back to Allura without comment.  Keith watched the trio, wondering why Pidge had a hand over her mouth stifling a laugh and why Hunk’s big grin was present.  Keith’s eyes caught Lance’s just as he was singing:

 _I won’t hesitate no more, no more_  
_It cannot wait, I’m yours_  
_Well open up your mind and see like me_  
_Open up your plans and damn you’re free_  
_Look into your heart and you’ll find love love love love_

Even as he sang, Lance wore the smug little smirk that drove Keith crazy, both in a good and bad way.  His eyes held Keith’s until Keith uneasily looked back down at the papers in his hand.  He couldn’t shut out his ears, however, and Lance continued to sing.

 _But do you want to come on_  
_Scooch on over closer dear_  
_And I will nibble your ear._

Keith stared hard at the papers in his hands, willing the blush he could feel trying to creep up his neck to stop.  The thought of Lance nibbling on his ear, or anywhere else for that matter...  Nope, nope, nope.

He did look back up as Lance’s singing got louder with the last verse and Keith saw Lance was looking at him again with that same damn smirk.

 _Open up your plans and damn you’re free_  
_Look into your heart and you’ll find the sky is yours_  
_So please don’t please don’t please don’t_  
_There’s no need to complicate_  
_Cause our time is short_  
_This, oh this, oh this is our fate, I’m yours_

Lance sang the last two words with his hands over his heart, which got Pidge and Hunk laughing.  Even Allura, Shiro, and Coran laughed at Lance’s antics, cheering when he finished up and turned off the music.  Lance stood and took a bow, blowing kisses to his audience.  “Thank you thank you thank you!”

Keith was the only one not laughing.  Not even smiling.  It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy it, he just was concentrating so hard on not blushing and not letting even an inkling of what he was feeling to show.

 

* * *

 

 

Three quintants later, in another part of the universe, the team was once again relaxing in the lounge, almost in the same seating arrangement as the other night when Lance sang.  The only real difference was Keith was polishing his Galran knife and Pidge was seated between Lance and Hunk showing them something on her Altean computer screen.

The opening notes to another song began playing and Keith looked up to see Lance with his phone out once again.  Keith was surprised to hear what sounded like an older song.  He knew he’d heard it on TV before when he was younger.  He heard Pidge laugh as Lance caught his eye and, wearing the same smirk as the previous performance, started singing.

 _I want you to want me_  
_I need you to need me_  
_I’d love you to love me_  
_I’m begging you to beg me_

Keith blinked a few times, then looked back down at his knife, again willing the blush that threatened to stain his pale face to stay away.  He could tell it wasn’t working as his cheeks felt warm.  He was grateful for the longish hair he wore as he hoped that it covered up his face. 

The song was upbeat, even though it was what Keith would deem a sort of love song.  A catchy love song.  Even Allura voiced her love of the song.  Lance’s voice matched the tone of the music; Keith could tell he was smiling as he sang.

 _Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I_  
_See you crying_  
_Feeling all alone without a friend_  
_You know you feel like dying_

At some point, he heard everyone laughing as Lance sang and he risked looking up again.  Lance had jumped to his feet and was bouncing around the center of the lounge and then up on the couch.  There were guitar riffs in the song and Lance playfully air guitared during them in between the chorus and verses.  Keith bit his lower lip to prevent the smile that wanted to leap out.  Lance just looked so goofy and cute as he balanced on the couch between Pidge and Hunk, who were leaning away from him, hugging themselves in their laughter.  Allura was cheering him on and Shiro and Coran were laughing too.

At the end of the song, Lance leapt off the couch to the floor and then sank to his knees, singing into an imaginary mic the last chorus, almost in front of Keith.

 _I want you to want me_  
_I need you to need me_  
_I’d love you to love me_  
_I’m begging you to beg me_  
_I want you to want me_  
_I want you to want me_  
_I want you to want me_  
_I want you to want me_

He finished the short burst of guitar riff on his imaginary guitar and the song ended.  Pidge, laughing, helpfully shut off his phone as everyone burst into applause.  Keith looked confusedly between all his friends, then back down at Lance, who looked like he was out of breath.  He did, however, smirk once again at Keith. 

Keith felt his heart speed up, but didn’t know what to do.  His heart wanted to believe that Lance had sung that for him, but his brain rejected that thought.  Lance had never shown any sort of interest in him and Keith harshly reminded himself of that fact.  It hurt, but it was the truth.  So Keith sort of shook his head and returned to running a cloth over the shiny steel of the knife blade to hide the hurt and disappointment he was afraid was on his face.  Though he did wonder why he heard Pidge snort and say something that sounded like, “Clueless.”

 

* * *

 

 

Over the next couple of movements, this same phenomenon happened a few more times, whenever the group was gathered together in the lounge to relax.  Lance didn’t do it at other times, just at those times.  Lance, Pidge and Hunk did rotate playing their music during training, something Shiro was happy to oblige them with, and Keith knew the three would play their music during their own chores or alone in their rooms.  And again, Lance never intruded his music on anyone normally.  Just that one song during leisure time.  Some sappy love song that left Keith fighting back a blush or fighting against showing any indication that he wished the song was aimed at him.

It almost made him want to not sit in the lounge at all.  If he didn’t enjoy listening to Lance so much, he would have avoided it altogether.  There was just something about Lance’s voice when he sang.  It had a joy in it, and Keith’s life was short of joy enough that he felt attracted to it wherever it was.  That it came from Lance made it all the more precious to him.  How many times had Lance been working at something – chores or knitting or working out (where he thought he was alone) – and singing along to his music while Keith watched from some unseen spot, sometimes closing his eyes and wishing he had the nerve to go to Lance and dance with him or just hold him?  Keith blanched at the thought.  Lance was not interested in him.  Lance flirted with everything that moved, except Keith.  Lance clearly felt nothing for him.

The third song was a country song by Garth Brooks that Keith knew.  His father had been a fan and Keith had heard Garth’s songs plenty as a kid.  He even vaguely remembered being taken to a concert when he was very young and meeting the singer backstage.  As Lance sang the song, one called “Shameless”, Keith thought about that memory and wondered how it was his father got them backstage.  He was vaguely aware of the lyrics as Lance sang, so much was his distraction at the mystery of this memory, but he did catch Lance singing near the end.

 _You know it should be easy for a man who’s strong_  
_To say he’s sorry or admit when he’s wrong_  
_I’ve never lost anything I’ve ever missed_  
_But I’ve never been in love like this_

Keith had been staring at the floor, lost in the thoughts the song brought about, but something about this verse caught his attention and he focused on Lance for a brief moment.  Lance was staring at him again as he sang, somehow morphing his voice to have a perfect country twang that exactly matched Garth’s voice coming from the phone speaker. 

_I’m shameless, shameless as a man can be_  
_You make a total fool of me_  
_I just wanted you to know_

When the song faded, Keith was back to staring at the floor with a blank look on his face, as he was still puzzling over the concert he had remembered.  His memories of his father were vague enough now and he was emotionally overwhelmed at the memories stirred by Lance’s performance.

 

* * *

 

 

The fourth time Lance sang, he sang a song that had a bad association for Keith.  One of the foster mothers he had lived with had loved the song and played it a lot.  It wasn’t a particularly happy home for him – his foster siblings resented Keith living there with them and the foster mother treated him dismissively.  He wasn’t exactly mistreated there, but they weren’t friendly or welcoming to the ten-year-old suddenly thrust into their home.  The song, “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel had apparently been the wedding song of the foster mother, whose husband had died, and she played it whenever she was depressed, which was often.

Even though the song had a bad memory associated with it, Keith’s heart clenched as he heard it sung in Lance’s sweet voice.  He glanced up at Lance and caught his eye and wished beyond everything that Lance was singing this to him; that Lance was thinking that he saw all of that in Keith’s own eyes.

 _In your eyes_  
_The light the heat_  
_In your eyes_  
_I am complete_  
_In your eyes_  
_I see the doorway to a thousand churches_  
_In your eyes_  
_The resolution of all the fruitless searches_  
_In your eyes_  
_I see the light and the heat_  
_In your eyes_  
_Oh, I want to be that complete_  
_I want to touch the light_  
_The heat I see in your eyes_

Keith looked back down at his book, tears blurring the words that he couldn’t bring himself to read.  He blinked fast, hoping that no tears would slip down his cheeks and he was so thankful that he was able to hold them back.  The applause for Lance this fourth time was less enthusiastic and when Keith looked up again, he thought he caught most of the team looking at himself a little funny.  He felt uneasy as he looked around at everyone – all his friends who avoided his eyes and looked away.  When he looked at Lance, the Blue Paladin was looking at his tablet now, presumably playing a game on it.

Keith sat there the rest of the night thoroughly confused and upset.  He kept looking up from his book at Lance, who pointedly ignored him.  Always before Lance would be acting goofy with Pidge and Hunk or would at least give sly little grins to Keith, or tease Keith in some way.  Not tonight.  Pidge was the one trying to make the others laugh, though it wasn’t having much effect on lifting the mood that had settled into the lounge once the song was finished.

One by one, the team members retired to bed, including Lance.  Keith found himself alone with Shiro, which surprised him.  Shiro was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise type, so he rarely stayed up past the others. 

“You should go to bed, Keith,” Shiro said in his quiet way.

“This book is good.  I can’t believe we found it in that flea market,” Keith replied, lifting the book a little.

“You haven’t turned a page all evening,” Shiro said.

Keith looked down at the book and realized Shiro was right.  It was on the same page it had been when he first opened it.  “Um.”

“Is there anything bothering you?” Shiro asked, his voice concerned.

“No,” Keith answered a little too quickly.  Shiro just hummed to himself, then fell quiet.  Keith knew what Shiro was doing; it was a technique that he often applied not only to Keith, but the other Paladins and the Alteans.  Shiro never pushed anyone to confide in him or talk to him about their problems, but everyone knew he was there to listen.  Keith knew that Shiro knew that the uncomfortable silence would get into Keith’s head and make him talk.  It worked especially well on Keith, who generally yearned to have someone listen to him, even though he hated talking about anything emotional with anyone.  It helped that Shiro was the one person he knew without a doubt he could trust.

“I don’t know what’s going on!” he finally exclaimed.

The amused look that Shiro shot him irritated him more than it should have.  Keith squirmed in his seat under Shiro’s gaze.  “What do you mean, Keith?”

“I don’t know.  Things feel so tense right now.  Especially tonight.  I don’t know what happened,” Keith’s voice was low and he looked back down at his book with a scowl.  “I don’t know what I did.”

“Why do you think you did something?”

“Everyone keeps looking at me strange.  They have been for a while.  Ever since Lance started singing those stupid songs.”

“I quite enjoy those songs.  They’re sweet,” Shiro said.  “And Lance has a nice voice.”

“Well yeah, he does,” Keith agreed.  “And I guess they are sweet, but I don’t know.  I feel like I’ve done something wrong, but I don’t know what it is.”

Shiro crossed his arms on his chest and frowned, looking thoughtful.  He then opened his mouth a few times as if to say something, but would close it and stay silent. 

“Shiro?”

“I’m trying to say what I want to say, without telling you too much, Keith,” Shiro explained, getting an even more confused stare from the young man.  “It’s not my place to interfere.”

“Interfere with what?”

“Just interfere.  Look, you aren’t really doing anything wrong.  Not exactly, anyway.  You’re just not doing what some people hoped you would do is all.”

“What does that mean?”

“That’s all I can say.  Keith, I love you like you were my little brother, but I can’t tell you what to do or how to feel.  Certain people here had a hope that your reaction would be different.  It’s ok that it’s not what they hoped for.”

“I don’t want to let my friends down!” Keith said, frowning even more now.  That was one of his biggest fears and his heart did sort of freeze thinking he had disappointed anyone.

“It’s not exactly that you let anyone down,” Shiro said, frustrated.  Shiro himself wished he could just come out and say it, but it wasn’t his place. 

“Did I let you down?”

“In a way,” Shiro said, then hurried to explain because of Keith’s hurt expression.  “Keith, I can’t say more than I already have.  I hoped for something.  I thought I saw something, but I must have been wrong.  We were all wrong.  And it’s alright,” he assured Keith, putting a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.  “You are not in the wrong here.”

Shiro fell silent, letting Keith go so the Red Paladin could stew over what was said.  He was more confused than ever.  What were people thinking they saw?  Why were they wrong?  He still had a feeling of uneasiness, but he didn’t know what it stemmed from.

“You going to be ok, Keith?” Shiro asked after a few minutes.  “I need to get some sleep and I think you should too.”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll be fine.  I’ll go in a little bit.”

Shiro shifted to the edge of the couch to stand, but hesitated.  “Have you listened to what Lance has been singing?” he asked suddenly.  The question startled Keith.

“Um, I guess?  Just a bunch of sappy love songs, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Shiro replied slowly.  “Love songs.”  He got to his feet and started toward the door, saying over his shoulder, “Sometimes we miss that the very thing we need is right in front of us, waiting patiently.  Good night Keith.”

Keith couldn’t even respond in his confusion.

 

* * *

 

 

The next two days were quiet around the castle.  Allura and Coran had directed the Castleship toward a system containing two habitable planets.  One of the planets was a resource-rich one while the other was a combative planet.  The two worked in a symbiosis, Thrakor providing protection for the more peaceful Illuma, while Illuma provided supplies, food and material for the more war-like Thrakor.  Allura wanted to secure both planets to the Voltron Alliance for not only the supplies, but also the help from the Thrakorians in the fight against the Galra.

Keith spent his time training and not thinking about what Shiro said, as impossible as that was.  He noticed that at all the mealtimes Lance wasn’t there.  He didn’t even see Lance more than a couple of times in those two days.  Once was during the briefing about Thrakor and Illuma, where the Paladins received their mission assignments for once they were in range of the planets.  Normally Keith sat next to Lance at briefings – it was just their thing, something neither of them planned.  At this meeting, Lance showed up late and went to sit as far from Keith as possible.  The Blue Paladin listened quietly to Allura and Coran, asked a couple of thoughtful questions, then simply rose and exited the room once the meeting was over.

This wasn’t normal Lance behavior.  Lance could always be counted on for a lame joke, or some sort of teasing aimed at Keith, but there was none of that.  Lance said barely anything and didn’t once make eye contact with Keith, though Keith stared at Lance the entire time.  Once again, the other Paladins and the Alteans all glanced strangely at him before also standing up and dispersing.

The other encounter he had with Lance was a brief one in the hallway.  Keith was on his way from the dining room to the common room after lunch.  He had lingered at the table, hoping Lance would show up, but the other boy didn’t.  Keith gave up and went to head down to the lounge, which he was assigned to clean that day.  When he turned the corner leading to the lounge, he ran into Lance just leaving his room.

Keith stopped in the middle of the corridor, semi-blocking Lance, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else at this moment.  “Excuse me,” Lance said in a flat voice.

“Where are you going?” Keith asked.

“Not that it’s your business, but I’m going to the kitchen for something to eat,” Lance snapped, not meeting his eyes.

“Well, why weren’t you at lunch?  If you’re hungry, you should have come down for that!”  Keith regretted how harsh his tone sounded.  He was just stressed about this Lance situation.

Lance didn’t respond, just pushed rudely past Keith, brushing his shoulder against the Red Paladin.

“Hey!”

“What do you care?” Lance hissed at him and turned the corner.

“Lance!” Keith yelled, but Lance either didn’t hear him or didn’t want to respond.  Keith rubbed his shoulder absently, not because it hurt, but because of the heat generated at contact with Lance. _‘He really does hate me,’_ Keith thought, leaning against the wall.  ‘ _I thought we were becoming friends, but I guess not.’_   He felt the sting of tears and was grateful for the emptiness of the corridor.  He brushed a hand over his eyes, skimming the tears off his cheeks before continuing on to the lounge and his chores.

 

* * *

 

 

After dinner that evening, Keith grabbed his sketchbook and pencils from his room and took them to the lounge, happy that it was empty.  He both hoped for and dreaded everyone else’s arrival.  He made himself comfortable in his usual spot and flipped lazily through the sketchbook, wincing at the numerous pictures of Lance.  He’d have to be careful and not let this fall into anyone else’s hands.  Lance was just good-looking and drawing him gave Keith a pleasure that both comforted and soothed him.  Keith had studied the Blue Paladin enough to know where to place every single freckle, where the cute little laugh wrinkles around his eyes went, the slight scar under his lip that was very faint but there, the one curl in his hair that wouldn’t stay in place no matter what Lance did.  Keith had drawn him in many poses, his favorite being one of Lance, Pidge and Hunk sitting on the same couch that was opposite him right now.  Keith modestly thought that he had caught all of them perfectly in his drawing – the way Hunk closed his eyes when belting out his loud laugh, the way Pidge sort of curled in on herself and held her hand up over her mouth as she laughed, and the way the skin around Lance’s eyes creased when he laughed hard.  It was a drawing of pure joy.

He had finished it a few weeks ago, before this stuff with the songs started.  He had hoped to share it with the other three Paladins, but the tension from whatever it was that was going on made him hesitate.  Keith lingered over the sketch, running a finger over Lance’s face as he stared thoughtfully at it. 

Coran was the first to enter and Keith quickly flipped the page to the sketch he was currently working on, one of Red.  Shiro and Allura came in not long after.  It was another half a varga before Pidge and Hunk came in and found their seats, where Pidge immediately flipped open the laptop she brought and Hunk leaned over to look at the screen. 

After a few minutes, Shiro spoke up in his quiet way and directed a question at the Green and Yellow Paladins.  “Where is Lance?”

The looks Shiro received from Pidge and Hunk appeared to be almost guilty to Keith.  He saw Pidge flick her eyes at him with a frown before answering Shiro, “He didn’t want to come here tonight.”

Shiro frowned.  “This is leisure time, of course, but it’s also a way for us to bond as a team.”

“We tried to get him to come Shiro,” Hunk answered in a voice that didn’t sound like his usual cheerful self.  “He refused.”

Shiro sighed, “And we all know why.”  Keith stared at Shiro because he had no idea why.  Shiro shoved himself out of his seat and said as he left the room, “I’ll go fetch him.”

The room was dead silent until Shiro returned with Lance in tow, slinking after Shiro with a rebellious look on his face.  Keith was surprised, because Lance usually showed nothing but respect for the Black Paladin.  Shiro wore a resigned sort of expression as he returned to his place between Allura and Keith, while Lance slumped into the spot next to Pidge, ignoring everyone and staring at his personal tablet with a scowl and Keith assumed he was playing a game.

Instead of sketching, Keith kept his head down, though he watched Lance.  He had seen Lance down before, vulnerable and upset over missing his family.  He’d even seen Lance angry at him, but he had never seen this Lance before.  His expression was almost mutinous and quite sullen and Keith wished more than anything that he could help, but he had no idea what had made Lance so upset. 

 

* * *

 

 

Lance kept his focus on his tablet, while Keith pretended to sketch.  He could feel the tension in the air once again.  There was little chatter; it seemed that everyone was involved in their own personal things.  The only sounds were Shiro and Allura’s murmured conversation, Pidge and Hunk’s discussion in low tones about the best way to upgrade the Yellow Lion to have cloaking ability, and Coran turning pages of his book next to him.

Keith saw Pidge lean over to Lance and whisper something and he was surprised to hear Lance’s hissed response accompanied by a glare at the younger girl.  Lance never got angry at Pidge.  Exasperated, yes, but angry?  No.  She whispered to him again and that mutinous look on his face intensified.  He hissed something else at her, then reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone.  He angrily swiped through it and Keith watched, frozen.  He had felt the tension increase and heard Pidge say in a low tone, but was just loud enough for him to make it out, “Don’t do this angry, you’re not thinking clearly.”

“You wanted it,” Lance snapped, then poked his finger at his phone screen.  Immediately the opening notes of a song started playing.  Everyone looked up expectantly, Keith could see in his peripheral vision, but he kept his eyes on his sketchbook.  He didn’t recognize the song, but he could see that Lance was staring right at him.  The music sounded nice at first, until Lance started singing.

_Say something, I’m giving up on you_

And Keith heard Pidge gasp.

Lance’s eyes didn’t stay on him the entire song.  They darted to Keith’s left and right; Lance even turned his head enough to send that stare to Hunk and Pidge.  And while Lance usually sung anything he did with a certain amount of joy and passion, all Keith could detect was pain and hurt.  The lyrics were heart breaking.

_And I will swallow my pride_  
_You’re the one that I love_  
_And I’m saying goodbye_

Keith darted his eyes around to his friends.  He could see that Allura had covered her mouth with both hands.  Shiro and Coran looked upset.  Hunk – normally cheerful and happy Hunk – was staring at his knees with a frown, and Pidge had curled her hand into a fist and had it pressed against her mouth.  Keith didn’t dare look straight at Lance because he could tell that Lance was now staring directly at him, singing in a way Keith had never heard him sing before.

 _Oh, oh, oh, oh say something, I’m giving up on you_  
_Say something, I’m giving up on you_  
_Say something_ …

And the song trailed off and Keith found his mouth dry, and his eyes strangely blurred and stung as if…tears?  No, it couldn’t be.  It was.  He felt so sad.  He blinked quickly to make sure no tears fell.  No one cheered, as before.  Lance didn’t stand up for a bow, making a show of himself.  They all just sat, quietly, and Keith looked up to see Lance staring at him with an unreadable expression.

“That was quite sad, Lance, but you sang it so lovely,” Allura said, breaking the silence with her sweet and lilting voice.

Lance seemed to shake himself, his little smirk returning as he turned to the Princess.  “I’m glad YOU approve, my dearest Princess.”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith felt, at the time, that he was again missing something, but he couldn’t figure out what.  He sat in his room, days later, racking his brain to figure out what it was that was eluding him.  He sighed, sitting up straight, then remembered the looks he had received from Hunk and Pidge after Lance had left the lounge that night, earlier than he usually did.  When Lance left, Hunk and Pidge slid closer together on the couch to look at something on Pidge’s computer, but Keith caught both of them giving him funny looks over the top of the screen.  They knew something.  Hopefully they knew what Keith was not getting.

Keith jumped up, stomped his feet into his boots, and strode out of his room.  Pidge or Hunk?  Would they already be in the lounge?  Probably, but he thought he would try anyway.  He stepped down the hall, pausing first at Hunk’s door and knocking.  No luck and he sighed, moving instead to Pidge’s door, which slid open just as he raised a fist to knock.  They both jumped back, startled.

“You scared me!” Pidge gasped, glaring up at him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

“Oh hey you guys,” they heard Hunk say as he came down the hall, arms full of snacks for the evening for everyone.  “Heading to the lounge?”

“I was just going that way,” Pidge said.  “But Keith scared me!”

“Not on purpose,” Keith said, holding up his hands.  “Actually, I just wanted to talk to you a minute, Pidge, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s my cue to leave,” Hunk said.

“No, actually,” Keith said, frowning slightly.  “I could use your help too.”

Pidge and Hunk looked at each other, eyebrows raised.  “Sure Keith, come on into my inner sanctum,” Pidge said in a flat voice, stepping back and gesturing grandly for him and Hunk to enter.

Pidge’s room looked like a typical teenager’s room.  It was a mess and things were tossed all over, though Keith could see there was an organized system to the chaos and he knew that Pidge knew exactly where everything in that mess was.  He leaned against her desk, his arms automatically crossing over his chest in his usual pose.  Hunk and Pidge perched on the edge of her bed, looking at him expectantly. 

Keith didn’t say anything at first.  Now that he was here, he wasn’t exactly sure how to ask what he wanted.  He wasn’t even sure what it was he wanted to ask.

Pidge and Hunk waited patiently at first, but Pidge wasn’t one to let silence go on for very long.  “You wanted to talk to me, Keith?  So talk.”

Keith’s mouth dropped open for a moment at her somewhat acid tone, then he admitted with difficulty, “I’m trying to figure out what to ask you.  It’s…strange.  And I’m not good at discussing things like this.”

“What does it involve?”

“I want to know what I’m missing,” Keith blurted out.

“You’re missing something?” Pidge asked blankly.

“We can help you find it,” Hunk said helpfully.

“No.  It’s nothing physical.  It’s just,” he paused, then groaned, rubbing at the back of his neck for a moment before returning to his closed off posture.

Pidge thought for a moment then looked at Hunk.  They seemed to have a whole conversation without saying one word.  “Would this have anything to do with Lance’s performances?” Pidge finally asked.

“YES!” Keith nearly yelled, relieved that he didn’t have to say it.

“What about them?” Hunk asked.

“Like I said, I feel like I’m missing something.  Especially after the last one.”

“What was it about the last one?” Pidge asked.

“I don’t know. It just seemed, I don’t know.  Like serious, or something.  Usually you guys are laughing through it.  Usually the other three are amused.  None of you were the other night.  And that song.  I don’t know.  It…it just…I don’t know,” he finished lamely, fully aware that he wasn’t expressing things correctly.  After a moment, he added.  “Lance sounded, I don’t know.  Sad?  And you guys weren’t laughing,” he said again. “No one was.  I felt like I was missing something.  I’ve felt like that ever since he started this.”

Hunk just shook his head and the look he gave Keith was a mixture of amusement and…pity?  “You are missing something, buddy.  You’ve missed it every night that Lance sings one of those songs.”  Hunk ignored the small glare Pidge sent him.

“But what am I missing?” Keith asked, his tone sounding desperate.

“We can’t tell you that,” Pidge snapped before Hunk could respond.  “None of us will tell you that.  Me, Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Coran.  None of us will.  You have to figure it out yourself.”

“You all know?”

“Everyone knows.  We all know how dense you are to everything right in front of you,” Pidge retorted, sounding upset.  “Come on Hunk, let’s get to the lounge.”  She stood up and stomped out of the room, leaving a mystified Keith still leaning against the desk.

Hunk stood up rather slowly, gathering the snacks he had tossed onto the bed behind him into his arms.  When he turned, he quirked a little smile at Keith, who still looked put out at Pidge’s rudeness.  “Keith, my friend, I’m not as harsh as Pidge is when she’s annoyed.  I’m annoyed too, but I’ll be much nicer about it.  And while I won’t tell you straight out what it is you’re missing, I can tell you this.  We all KNOW how you feel about a certain someone.  We were amused at first, but it stopped being funny.  We aren’t sure if we were all wrong, or you really are this dense.  Think about what Lance has been singing, ok?  Think about the lyrics.  And then think about why he looks at you while he sings.  You’re both halfway there, you just need to meet in the middle.”

With that, Hunk left the room too.  Keith stared after him, even after the door slid shut, leaving the room in silence.  Silent except for the now loud beating of his heart.  Hunk knew how he felt about Lance?  Everyone did?  Is that what Hunk meant?  It had to be.  And what did he mean about Lance’s singing performances.  Think about the lyrics.  They were all love songs.  He kept singing about being in love with someone.  The beating of his heart got louder and felt almost painful against his chest.  Was Lance singing those to him?  As he had hoped?  Keith was embarrassed because he knew they all thought him oblivious.  He was, but it was because he never would have thought that Lance could ever feel anything like that for him.  Lance, who was always picking on him, teasing him, flirting with everything in the universe except him.  Lance loved him?

What should he do with this new information?  He felt frightened and nervous and a cold sweat broke out.  Oh great.  Sweat.  Just what he needed.  Keith had never even felt this frightened when facing enemy soldiers.  Facing a man you love when you suspect he loves you back?  He’d rather face the Galra army single handed.

Because Keith had never been in any sort of relationship and didn’t know what he should do, or what he should say.  Should he just go up and hug Lance?  Kiss him?  What if he misinterpreted what Hunk meant?  That would be a disaster of the nth magnitude.  What was he supposed to do now?

Go to the lounge.  See what song Lance had picked out tonight.  Acknowledge it, at the very least.  Smile at Lance while he sang?  Yeah, that would be safe enough.  A little encouragement to the Blue Paladin, maybe?  Then it would be up to Lance to make a move.  Ok.  Plan set.  He felt slightly better with that fixed in his mind, but he still had to walk into that room with the (hopefully true) knowledge of Lance’s feelings.

Every step toward the lounge felt like his last.  His nervous system was on overload and he felt numb from head to toe.  _‘Why does love leave you feeling like this?’_ he wondered.  _‘I’m surprised people fall in love when it leaves you a nervous wreck and about to have a panic attack.’_

The doors to the lounge slid open at his touch and he went in, taking note that everyone else was already there.  He was greeted as he stumbled to his normal seat, though he was never sure if he even responded to anyone.  He knew Lance looked up at him with a brief, though somewhat sad, smile before returning his attention to his own personal tablet.

Keith looked down at his hands and realized he didn’t bring anything to occupy himself with in the lounge.  Everyone else had, it seemed.  Coran was sitting on his left, reading something on his tablet in Altean and Keith looked over at it trying to decipher it.

“It’s a very boring report from a very long time ago,” Coran murmured quietly.  “I’m trying to find something about the castle power sources – a way I can boost them.  There’s a lot of stuff to sift through.”

“I wish I could real Altean better so I could help you,” Keith replied.

“That’s kind of you, Red Paladin,” Coran said, looking at him with a smile.

“Do you mind if I read as well?  It helps me with learning the language.”

“Not at all,” Coran said cheerfully, shifting the tablet a little better so Keith could see.

A varga passed, as Keith concentrated on the Altean language, mostly so he wouldn’t fly apart with anticipation.  He couldn’t wait for Lance to start singing, even though he had no idea what would happen past the smile he planned.  He kept rubbing his palms on his thighs, afraid they were sweating too much.  If Lance understood what Keith’s smile meant, that might lead him to, what?  Try and hold his sweaty hand?  Ugh.  No.

However, Lance sat calmly on the opposite couch, directly across from Keith, apparently oblivious to Keith’s existence.  Pidge and Hunk sat on each side of Lance, busy with their own things, and Lance concentrated on whatever game he was playing.

Shiro retired first, followed soon by Allura and Coran.  They were planning on taking a trip to the surface of the planet they were orbiting in the morning, and wanted to rest themselves for it.  Keith was left alone on his couch, with not even a tablet to look at.  He crossed his arms and looked down, frowning.  Where was Lance’s song?  The last five team-bonding nights had a Lance song and now, all of a sudden, none?  Because Keith was dense?  Because it got pathetic?  Keith frowned even deeper.  That was it.  That’s what he was missing.

Lance must have suspected that Keith liked him, so he was singing these songs to let Keith know the feeling was mutual.  Lance must have been hoping Keith would act on it, and Lance was probably a little humiliated because everyone knew what he was up to.  That would explain the laughs and amused looks the first few times.  They were cheering Lance on, not only because he was a good singer, but because they wanted something to happen between the two Paladins.  They all, including Lance, must have thought that they had all been mistaken and that Keith actually didn’t care about Lance in that way.  Everything finally made sense. 

He must have groaned out loud when he realized this, because the three other Paladins all glanced up and stared at him.  Keith felt the blush come and couldn’t control it or hide it.  He must look stupid to them.

“You ok, Keith?” Lance asked.

“Why aren’t you singing a song tonight?” Keith blurted, then immediately regretted it and wanted to crawl back to his room and never leave.

Lance didn’t answer right away, just looked thoughtfully at Keith.  “I didn’t think there was a point to it anymore,” he answered in a tone of voice that Keith had never heard from him before.

Keith was flustered.  He had not planned anything except ‘smile’.  This called for more than that, but he just wasn’t good at expressing himself.

“I think you’ve got one more in you, buddy,” Hunk said suddenly. 

Lance turned his head slowly to look at his best friend.  “You do, huh?”

“Sure why not?”

“Yeah, sing another Lance,” Pidge encouraged him.

Lance returned his gaze to Keith, one eyebrow raised as if questioning.  Keith knew what he could do here.  He smiled.

It took a few moments, but Lance finally pulled his phone from his pocket, keyed his code in and pressed the screen looking for a song.  He paused, looking at the screen for a moment in thought, then pressed play.

Keith didn’t know the song at all, but the lyrics and the chorus were unmistakable. And Lance’s sweet voice made his insides go weak, his heart to speed up, and that cold sweat to break out all over again.

 _I feel it in my fingers_  
_I feel it in my toes_  
_The love that’s all around me_  
_And so the feeling grows_

 _It’s written on the wind_  
_It’s everywhere I go_  
_So if you really love me_  
_Come on and let it show_

 _You know I love you, I always will_  
_My mind’s made up by the way that I feel_  
_There’s no beginning, there’ll be no end_  
_Cause on my love you can depend_

Keith kept his eyes locked on Lance, struggling not to look away.  If Lance liked him and was doing this to let him know, Keith couldn’t be a coward and ignore it.  Keith now recognized how passionately Lance sang – had been singing every time – and it thrilled Keith in a way he’d never felt before.  Then to his surprise, Lance stood up, clenched his hands into fists, and glared angrily down at Keith making his heart race.

 _It’s written in the wind_  
_Oh everywhere I go_  
_So if you really love me, love me, love me_  
_Come on and let it show_  
_Come on and let it show_  
_Come on and let it show, baby_

Those last lines kept repeating, probably a dozen times.  Lance had watched Keith the whole time he sang and Keith knew, just knew, that Lance was in love with him.  He was telling him through music.  Lance sang that last chorus intently, glaring at Keith as if in challenge, ignoring the fact that Hunk and Pidge had huddled together on the couch behind him, hugging each other. 

Keith stared up at Lance, intimidated by the way he sang this song.  ‘ _Come on and let it show baby_ ,’ Lance kept singing.  A challenge.  Keith was always up for a challenge.  Keith never backed down from one.  Especially not one from Lance.  He would show the Blue Paladin.

_Come on and let it show._

Keith jumped up, slightly annoyed that Lance was the taller of the two of them.  He returned Lance’s glare.

_Come on and let it show baby._

Alright, he would.  He reached up his hands to the sides of Lance’s head, unaware of what he was actually doing.  Uncaring that this was completely out of character for him, ignoring the “Oh!” from Pidge and the “Yes!” from Hunk. 

 _Come on and let it show_ , Lance whispered this time.

Oh he would.  Keith would show Lance that he loved him.  He pulled slightly with his hands, even as his head tilted up to give the Blue Paladin probably the worst kiss he’d ever received.  Keith didn’t know what he was doing – he’d never kissed anyone before.  He just closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Lance’s, surprised at how soft they were.  He could feel those lips lift up in a smile, even as he felt two hands grip him at his waist.  Keith might not have known what to do, but apparently Lance did.  He patiently kissed Keith back, taking control of it, making it sweet and sensuous and mind-blowing all at once.  Keith’s mind was spinning into a black vortex, it seemed, from years of pining away after Lance, the very man whose lips were hungrily latched onto his own, returning that feeling that had sprung up in Keith’s heart the very first time he met Lance.

Neither of them noticed that Pidge and Hunk quietly made their escape.  They were wrapped up in this discovery.  When they pulled apart, for breath, for a break, for a much-needed clearing of the mind, they were surprised to find themselves alone.

“Looks like we chased them off,” Lance commented.

Keith was coming to realize what he had done.  His arms were loosely draped over Lance’s shoulders, while Lance held him firmly about the waist.  There wasn’t even a sliver of space between them, Keith was painfully aware their chests were pressed up against each other – he swore he could feel Lance’s fast heartbeat, or was that his own?  He’d never been in such an intimate position with anyone.

“You’re cute when you blush,” Lance teased.

That made the blush he didn’t even realize he had worsen. 

“What took you so long, mi amor?” Lance asked in a whisper, pressing his forehead against Keith’s.

Keith knew what he meant.  “I didn’t think someone like you would ever like someone like me.”

“But why?”

“You’re…you’re always so happy, so outgoing, so friendly.  I’m not any of those things.  Why would you even like me?”

“Because I see who you are, Keith,” Lance said, his tone serious, though his smile was loving.  “I see all the good and the bad in you.  I see all of the wonderful things and your faults.  I see how much you care…about the team, about the people we’re saving.  I see you try to hide the good person you are, but it shines through whether you like it or not.  I love how smart and brave you are.  Doesn’t hurt that you’re the most gorgeous person I’ve ever set my eyes on.”  Keith couldn’t help but smile at that, even as Lance smirked at him.  “I love you for every little thing about you.”

“You love me?”

“Te amo, cariño.  I love you very much.”

Keith let out a little sigh, closing his eyes.  He’d never heard that before.  At least not in this context.  “I love you, Lance,” he managed to say, his voice soft, but strained at the emotion that was racing through his heart and his body.  Keith had never imagined that he would ever find someone that would see through his walls and love him.  He knew Shiro had, but it wasn’t the same.  As much of a loner as Keith was, he still craved normalcy and a happy relationship with someone.  That his heart had chosen Lance had caused him stress for years as he thought the other teen would never even look at him, let alone fall in love back. 

Keith’s eyes opened, in awe at the smile shining down at him.  “Just, next time,” Lance said, his tone teasing.  “If I sing a love song, know that it’s for you.”

Keith laughed, tightening his hold on his new boyfriend, burying his face in Lance’s shoulder in slight embarrassment.  “Next time, just tell me.”

“Count on it, cariño!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Song list. Check them out!  
> "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz  
> "I Want You to Want Me" - Cheap Trick  
> "Shameless" - Garth Brooks  
> "In Your Eyes" - Peter Gabriel  
> "Say Something" - A Great Big World  
> "Love Is All Around" - Wet Wet Wet


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